Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fat, Sugar and Salt...Oh, my!

I'm still reading David Kessler's book, The End of Overeating. I thought I'd be finished by now. It's certainly riveting but life intervened. Anyway, I'm back to the book. Can't wait until I get to the part that tells me how to stop being seduced by the fat, sugar and salt the evil food industry has secretly added to the prepared foods I buy.
Yes, even I am sometimes amazed by the number of calories in restaurant and packaged foods. Absolutely floored. I don't think people are ordering the "blooming onion" thinking it's a low cal appetizer but who knew how many calories (1500) were in that crispy delight? And don't you dip the onions in Ranch dressing? If not, you should (NOT).
Since I don't frequent chain restaurants (and in truth, I've never had the "blooming onion" although I've had fried onion rings many times), I've sort of convinced myself that if I order smartly, I'll get something that passes for healthy food. But that's a delusion. Because I've worked in restaurants. I know how food is prepared. And I know that if it tastes really good to me, then it is indeed full of, as Kessler points out, fat, sugar and salt. Because my palate is addicted to fat, sugar and salt.
And that's the main problem for me. Yes, I know when I'm satisfied. I know when I'm overfull. I can look at a burger and get pretty close to guessing the weight. I can control the portion size when it comes to feeling full but I cannot control the urge to eat more sugar, fat and salt.
They've hooked me! I'm addicted. So should I try a slow detox by avoiding certain foods when eating out? Should I avoid eating out all together???? Please, don't suggest that I do that. I can't bear to think about cooking three meals a day every day of every month. I love to cook--just not for the two of us. I like to cook grand meals with many courses involving hundreds of ingredients, lots of utensils and copious amounts of food. But dinner for two. Boring.
And what about food shopping? Trader Joe's, evil Trader Joe's. They tempt me with each new product. Bottled sauces (that I could make on my own) entice me. Curiosity takes hold and I have to buy them even though the label screams salt, sugar and fat at me.
So no restaurants. No supermarkets. No specialty stores. But even my local farmers' market is chock full of temptation--breads, cakes, cookies, tamales, prepared dressings, bbq sauce. Is there no haven for me?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm right there with ya' on every point, girl.